[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Caricature of Advaita, Shankaracharya, etc. by the Gaudiya head

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

My blunt observations to your multiple questions :

My apologies for wading into this discussion and hijacking it. But as a student of Advaita, I have failed to explain to anyone who has asked me,

where does Maya come from?


  *   It is anivachaneeya (inexplicable), contextually sometime termed as Ishwara shakti and there is no difference between this shakti & shakta.  mAya is Ishwarya of Lord.

I understand asking why Maya exists is wrong as Maya is unreal, so the question of existence is moot.


  *   As mentioned above we cannot categorically say it is either real or unreal.

But what is the need for this transactional/Vyavaharika reality in the first place?


  *   To realize the transcendental reality the transactional reality is the platform 😊 which we have to ‘use’ unfortunately.

I see the cycle of Jiva as a result of Karma but Karma is valid when in the Jiva cycle. What is the purpose of the Jiva cycle itself ?


  *   The purpose (purushArtha) is to realize we are beyond this cycle ( i.e. ajaH, nityaH etc.)

I thought at first Srishti "is" because without that there can be no experience of anything, but then the question arises if Srishti is the result of a desire in Brahman to "experience".


  *   Srushti is for jeeva, who has to experience his karma phala in the jagat, Ishwara does this for the sake of jeeva and accepting that srushti is from Ishwara is ‘vedAnta maryAda’.  And all these prakriya-s (methodologies) are there to teach us the ultimate shruti siddhAnta i.e. ekamevAdviteeyatvaM of Atman which is our own svarUpa.

That is also a confusing thought as Brahman can have no desire. Please help me understand.


Ø     See the sUtra bhAshya, bhAshyakAra explained all these doubts.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar